Page 19 of Dead Man's Alibi

But why had Jake been here?Talking to Jill when as far as Cal knew they were passing acquaintances at best.Cal found he didn’t likeanyof the potential explanations, but he was most concerned about the one where Jake was seeing just how far he could spread the idea Nate might be a murderer.

“What were you guys talking about?”Cal asked, trying to sound casual.

Cheerfully, blandly interested.In an offhanded kind of way.

“Oh, well… he…” Jill’s cheeks turned a fascinating shade of pink.“He said he’d read one of my books and that he liked it, so that gave me the idea to ask him some questions from the perspective of law enforcement for the courtroom scene.”

“Gage isn’t anything like that guy.”Not that her main male character was anything likeCaleither, aside from the shared traumatic amnesia.Not that Cal had any right to be worried about who he was like.Jill could get book research help from anybody.It washerbook.

“No, not really,” Jill agreed.“But Leah is.”

Leah was the small-town cop character paired with FBI Agent Gage.The idea that she might be like Jake rubbed Cal the wrong way entirely.

And they are not real people, so maybe chill out.

“So he just talked about your book.He didn’t ask you anything?Mention… anyone?”

Jill tilted her head.Studied him.“What are you trying to get at?”

Cal looked around the diner.No one seemed to be paying them much mind, but he hated the idea of being the source of small-town gossip.The less Nate being a suspect filtered out into the broader public, the less chance things had of getting a little overly sensationalized in a small community.

“It’s complicated.I don’t suppose you’d want to take a little walk, and we could talk about it somewhere more private?”

Jill surveyed her computer and breakfast plate.

“If you’re working…”

“No, it’s fine.”She closed her laptop, started to pack her things away.

“I don’t want to interrupt your workflow if Jake was helpful.”Which wasmaybefishing.

“He had some good thoughts, but it kind of messes with my plan a little bit.So I need to think it over before I try to write through it.”

“Maybe my thoughts will help.”Cal grinned at her.“I bet they’re better.”

She laughed.“Maybe they are, but I want you to tell me what’sprivatebefore we start worrying about my book.”

He nodded, scooted out of the booth and let her do the same.When she got to her feet, he took the bag for her.

“You don’t have to carry that.”

“I’m making you walk.I can lug your stuff.”They stepped out into the sunny morning.

She shrugged on her jacket.

“How about we walk down to Bramble Park?”he offered.

“Sure.”

He was quiet at first, not sure how to launch into a conversation about how his brother was a murder suspect and how he didn’t trust the detective investigating the case even though he might have considered him a friend just a few days ago.

Cal figured he’d just tell her the most CliffsNotes version possible, but he found himself wanting to make his case.By the time they reached the park and took a seat on one of the benches, he’d told her just about everything.

“I get why Sam is worried,” Jill said.“This must be really hard on her.Like reliving a nightmare.”

“Yeah, she’s not handling it very well.”

“But Jake… he seems like a really good detective.He helped with Aly’s mom and helped you guys during the case against your dad.Even with Grandma last month, he was… he worked really hard to find the truth.I’m sure once there’s some real evidence, he’ll admit he was wrong.”